The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal has chronicled builders' complaints about a shortage of construction workers and wondered why the labor pool appears so shallow when employment levels are still well below those of the boom years.
Indeed, industry-wide employment cratered from 2006 to 2011, losing nearly 2.3 million jobs. It's gotten well less than half of those back. Where did they all go?READ MORE

For Construction ProsAcquiring new customer business is not easy. Sales success will be strengthened with a well-thought-out strategy or road map to follow, allowing for adjustments along the way. While there is no one way to land business or some secret sales process that guarantees you 100 percent closings, there is a sure-fire process to cover all of your sales bases.READ MORE

SPONSORED CONTENT

Promoted by

New Breed of Software for Replacement Contractors has Changed the Game

1000’s of contractors have a powerful ally with their business management system – built just for them. “We make better decisions on marketing and better assessments of sales staff based on the data. We’re beating our competition while helping drive the bottom line!” Their growth tool helps them manage everything, from one location, boosting profits dramatically.
See their Solution to Problems You Face Every Day

By Michael J. Berens Two recent news items reveal that revolutionary advances in building technology are just around the corner. Both how we build and what we build may radically change within the next decade. These innovations have the potential to make construction safer and more affordable, as well as faster and more malleable. It used to take years for new technologies to make their way into practical applications and trickle down to the work site, but that window keeps getting narrower. READ MORE

Hardwood FloorsResidential home improvement spending, currently undergoing a period of gradual decreases, is expected to reverse course in early 2016, according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity released by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.
The fourth quarter 2015 LIRA is projected at 3.4 percent, which should increase to 4.4 percent in the first quarter and 6.8 percent in the second quarter of 2016, according to the center.
READ MORE

EntrepreneurWhen coming up with marketing plans for your business, social media has become a given.if we're going to put it on Instagram, it's when and how. But because social media has become tremendously infused in every corner of our lives, it's easy for your marketing campaigns to get lost in such a saturated market.
What else can a business do to reach people? Here are some ideas that don't involve likes, shares or tweets.
READ MORE

Construction DiveIt seems that authorities across the U.S. have pumped up their campaigns to eliminate contractor misconduct of all kinds and dish out severe punishment, including criminal charges, for violations and offenses traditionally met with a slap on the wrist or a monetary fine.
Nevertheless, is there really a crackdown, or is it just a matter of a few high-profile cases hitting the news in a relatively short time span? Construction law experts say the shift toward stricter enforcement and harsher penalties in the construction industry cannot simply be chalked up to coincidence.READ MORE